Welcome back to the best laptops of 2025 so far. This is my Q2 roundup and if you want to check out my Q1 picks, I’ll drop those links in the description below. I’ve got some incredible selections for you this quarter because I’ve been testing a ton of laptops and there’s generally something amazing I think for everyone. Well, except for budget laptops. I haven’t gotten my hands on many of those yet, but that might change in Q3. So, let’s kick things off with the Acer Swift Edge 14. Now, I had the chance to go hands-on with this beauty in Taipei, and let me tell you, it absolutely blew me away. Acer has completely nailed it with this one. And the big question is, what makes this laptop so special? Well, first off, it’s not just thin and light. It sports this sleek, really cool design that really stands out from the crowd. The full aluminum chassis feels incredibly premium, yet surprisingly lightweight. It comes in this stunning white finish. And if you know me, I have a serious soft spot for white laptops. just don’t smoke around it. Plus, it features these unique gold accents that really make it pop. The build quality is good. The hinge opens a full 180°, and the display hinges feel solid and secure. But here’s where things get really exciting. The 120 Hz OLED display with touch support and Corning’s new Gorilla Matt Pro nanoexture coating is amazing. like this anti-reflective technology is so well executed that it rivals what you’d find on a MacBook Pro, which is a complete gamecher if you’re constantly moving around between different lighting environments. In fact, I’ve heard rumors that Apple might be switching to Corning’s version in future MacBooks. Battery life is solid thanks to Intel Lunar Lake CPU, and you got both a fingerprint scanner and Windows Hello facial recognition to quickly log you in. Now, we got to ramp things up with a powerhouse gaming laptop that completely surprised me, the Razer Blade 18. This thing is not only incredibly wellbuilt, but looks absolutely stunning. Well, as long as you don’t mind the Snake logo. But here’s the standout feature that makes perfect sense for laptops. The dual mode IPS display. You can use it at UHD Plus resolution for that crisp, detailed experience, so your text will look good and run it at 240 Hz. But here’s the best part. Laptop GPUs only deliver about half the performance of the desktop counterparts. Okay, that’s not the best part. That’s an unfortunate part. But the best part is being able to natively switch down to 1920x 1200 and get 440 Hz refresh rate, which is absolutely incredible for gaming. Now, you won’t hit 440 FPS in every game you play, maybe CS: GO, but you’ll seriously get high frame rates at that resolution, and it still looks fantastic. The cooling on this laptop is fantastic. It has Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, and you can spec it all the way up to an RTX 5090. Plus, it has some of the best speakers I’ve heard on a Windows laptop, period. The only downside to this laptop, though, is the price tag is absolutely brutal. Now, if you need something lighter, there’s the Asus ROG Zephris G14. This has been a favorite hit over the past few years because of its price and performance that you get with this laptop. It doesn’t have the best build quality, but it’s still really good. But you got to be careful on which model you choose when you buy this laptop, because there’s only one configuration you should really consider. The G14 faces stiff competition every year, but this year’s model is different. While most 14-inch gaming laptops max out with an RTX 5070, the G14 can go higher. But here’s my advice. Only buy the RTX 5070Ti version. Anything above that doesn’t give you the true laptop performance. Like a 5080 is just not going to do well in this chassis because it’s not being properly fed. And anything below it isn’t really a meaningful upgrade from last year’s model. You’d be better off finding a deal on the previous generation. At least with the 5070Ti, you get bumped up to 12 GB of VRAM, which is fantastic for gaming, plus significantly better performance, and you’ll get everything that makes the G14 special. Now, obviously, I do have to talk about the G16 if I’m talking about the G14. And all my rules apply to the G16 as well. I really don’t think there’s a point going above the 5070 Ti. Yes, you’ll get a little bit more performance with the 5080, but at the end of the day, you’re still being starved for power, and you’re really not paying for a proper laptop 5080. Stick with the 5070Ti model. The G16 hasn’t changed much this year except for maybe the GPU, and they swapped out the CPU to an Intel Core ultra processor, the 285H, which is great. Like, you get good battery life, good efficiency, and good performance. But anything lower like a 5070 or 5060, you’re better off looking for a deal from the previous generation. Now, here’s something completely different. The Framework Laptop 13. This might seem like just another everyday laptop for school, travel, or basic needs. But the beauty of the Framework is its unprecedented longevity and upgradability. Now, once you make that initial investment, and yes, it’s more than a comparable laptop. 5, 6, or 7 years down the line, you can replace anything you don’t like. Want more RAM? Buy more RAM. Don’t like the display? Get a new one. Want a faster motherboard or CPU? You can swap them out. This approach can save you serious money in the long run. Yes, it’s a bigger investment upfront, but if you’re planning to keep it for the long haul, you’ll definitely save yourself quite a few bucks while reducing electronic waste. [Music] For my sixth pick, we have the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i. I’m recommending this if you need a larger chassis with maximum performance, a beefier CPU, an HX CPU paired with an RTX 5080 that actually gets 175 watts. I don’t think the 5090 is worth it on most laptops because you’re paying significantly more for only marginal performance gains. If you’re going high-end GPU, the 5080 is where you want to be, and you want it in a laptop that can actually push it to its full potential. This laptop delivers on a beautiful design, excellent keyboard, tons of ports, and a fantastic OLED display with a high refresh rate. The RTX 5080 performance is consistent, and when you pair that with excellent cooling and thermals, you get a very well-gineered product for anyone needing a 16-in gaming laptop. Last up, we have the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i. This is perfect for creators or anyone who needs a GPU in a more classy looking laptop. And here’s why. This laptop offers something most others don’t, a tandem OLED display option. While the color accuracy and gamut are similar to the standard OLED version, the brightness is absolutely insane. 1,600 nits of peak brightness. If you watch HDR content on this laptop, your eyes are going to be absolutely mesmerized. For a chassis this size, it’s truly impressive. You pair this with a great keyboard, good amount of ports, a fairly light build, good battery life, good speakers, and an RTX 5070. My only complaint would be is I wish you could buy it with a 5070 Ti. So, those are my top picks for the laptops I reviewed in Q2 2025. I’ll drop links to all of them in the description below if you want to check them out. I know there weren’t many budget options here, but I simply haven’t gotten many budget options into the studio yet. Maybe Q3 will be different. Either way, smash that like